Theorists

Question 1

What is ‘overt prestige’ and who uses it?

Answer 1

Overt Prestige:

• is acquired by those who have command of a standard dialect (which is spoken to gain social status)
• it is often used by that of the elite
• to ‘talk’ is a woman’s overt prestige.

Question 2

What is ‘covert prestige’ and who uses it?

Answer 2

Covert prestige is:

- acquired by those speakers desiring to belong.

Question 3

What is the ‘Communication Accommodation Theory’ and who is the theorist?

Answer 3

Howard Giles argued that when people interact they adjust their:
- speech
- vocal patterns
- gestures
to accommodate others.
It explores the various reasons why individuals EMPHASISE or MINIMISE the social differences between themselves and their discussers through VERBAL and NONVERBAL communication.

Question 4

What is convergence? (CAT)

Answer 4

CONVERGENCE refers to the strategies through which individuals adapt to each other’s communicative behaviours (IN ORDER TO REDUCE THESE SOCIAL DIFFERENCES).
Sometimes when individuals try to engage in convergence they can end up over-accommodating and despite their good intentions they can be seen as condescending.

Question 5

What is Divergence? (CAT)

Answer 5

DIVERGENCE refers to the instances in which individuals accentuate the speech and nonverbal differences between themselves and their interlocutors (discussers).

Question 6

What is influential power?

Answer 6

When the person does not have power and they are trying to gain influence over you:
- an example would be an advertisement.

Question 7

What is instrumental power?

Answer 7

Is when a person already has power over you:

• usually due to authority or law
• an example would be a teacher or a police officer.

Question 8

What is the dominance theory and who theorised it?

Answer 8

The theory that:
- in mixed-sex conversations men are more likely to interrupt than women.
It was recorded by Don Zimmerman and Candace West in 1975.

Question 9

Who discovered that women differ to men in language?

Answer 9

Robin Lakoff.

Question 10

In Robin Lakoff’s theory how do women differ to men in language?

Answer 10

Women use:

• lexical hedges or fillers (you know, sort of, well, you see)
• tag questions (she’s very nice, isn’t she?)
• rising intonation on declaratives (it’s really good?)
• “empty” adjectives/qualifiers (divine, charming, cute)
• precise colour terms (magenta, aquamarine)
• intensifiers/intonational emphasis (I like him So much)
• ‘hypercorrect’ grammar (consistent use of standard verb forms)
• ‘super-polite’ forms (indirect requests, euphemisms)
• avoidance of strong swear words (fudge, my goodness)
• emphatic stress (it was a BRILLIANT performance)
• use (super)polite forms (would you mind, I’d appreciate it if, if you don’t mind)
• English prestige grammar and clean enunciation
• use direct quotation, whereas men paraphrase more
• have a special lexicon (women use more words for things like colour, men for sports)
• use “wh” imperatives such as “why don’t you…?”
• speak less frequently
• apologies more
• use modal constructions such as “can”, “would”, “should” and “ought”
• avoid coarse language or expletives
• use indirect commands and requests
• lack a sense of humour (women don’t tell jokes well).

Question 11

What is the ‘deficit theory’?

Answer 11

That conversation is dominated by males.

Question 12

What are the ten sub groups which divides males and females in language and who categorised them?

Answer 12

Deborah Tannen found subtle differences in men an women’s conversation which are:

• status and support
• independence Vs. intimacy
• advice Vs. understanding
• information Vs. feeling
• order Vs. proposal
• conflict Vs. compromise
• the male as norm
• report talk Vs. rapport
• interruptions and overlapping
• high involvement and high considerateness.

Question 13

What is ‘status Vs. support’?

Answer 13

Women:
- talking is often a way to gain confirmation and support for their ideas
- see the world as ‘‘a network of connections seeking support and consensus’’.
Men:
- grow up in a world which conversation is competitive
- seek to achieve the upper hand or prevent others from dominating them
- see the world as a place where people try to gain status.

Question 14

What is ‘independence Vs. intimacy’?

Answer 14

Women often think in terms of closeness and support and struggle to preserve intimacy.
Men (concerned with status) tend to focus more on independence.
These traits can lead women and men to different views of the same situation.
A woman will check with her husband and a husband will independently make a decision.

Question 15

What is ‘advice Vs. understanding’?

Answer 15

To many men a complaint is a challenge to find a solution, whereas women prefer sympathy.

Question 16

What is ‘information Vs. feelings’?

Answer 16

Men (stereotypically) stick to an informational topic and avoid the display of feelings.

Question 17

What is ‘orders Vs. proposal’?

Answer 17

Women often suggest that people do things in indirect ways:
- ''lets''
- ''why don't we...?''
- ''wouldn't it be good if we...?''
Men may use (and prefer to hear) a direct imperative;
- ''Do''
- ''Remember''
- ''Run''.

Question 18

What is ‘conflict Vs. compromise’?

Answer 18

Refusing to oppose the determination of others, some women will prevent fights. However, on some occasions it’s far more effective for a woman to assert herself, even at the risk of conflict.
Basically:
- women prefer to compromise
- men prefer conflict.

Question 19

What is mean by ‘‘the male as norm’’?

Answer 19

One of Deborah Tannen’s most influential ideas is that of male as norm.
Generic terms such as ‘‘men’’, ‘‘man’’ and ‘‘mankind’’ are used for species and people in general implying only one gender.

Question 20

What is meant by a ‘‘marked term’’?

Answer 20

A noun which specifies a gender:

• '’fireman & firewoman’’
• '’actor & actress’’
• '’headmaster & headmistress’’.

Question 21

'’Police officer’’, ‘‘journalist’’ and ‘‘artist’’ are all examples of what?

Answer 21

Unmarked terms.

Question 22

Who commented on Professor Tannen’s view of ‘male as norm’, stating that ‘‘if we believe women and men have different styles and that male is the standard, we are hurting both women and men. The women are treated based on the norms for men and men with good intentions speak to women as they would other men and are perplexed when their words spark anger and resentment’’?

Answer 22

Susan Githens.

Question 23

What did Dale Spender theories?

Answer 23

Women who talk like men are judged differently and harshly. A woman invading the man’s realm of speech is often considered unfeminine, rude or butch.

Question 24

What is “report talk and rapport” talk?

Answer 24

Men report:
- speak in public
- negotiate status
- avoid failure
- speak in turn
Women rapport:
- talk too much
- speak in private context
- build relations
- overlap.

Question 25

What is ‘interruptions and overlapping’?

Answer 25

Interruptions are different to overlapping.
Overlapping can be supportive and affirming (co-operated overlap).
Overlapping could also be an attempt to take over the conversation:
- competitive overlap.

Question 26

What is ‘high involvement and high considerateness’?

Answer 26

High involvement speakers are concerned to show enthusiastic support (even if this means simultaneous speech).
High considerateness speakers are more concerned to be considerate of others:
- they chose not to impose on the conversation as a whole or on specific comments of another speaker.

Question 27

What does Deborah Cameron say about gender in language?

Answer 27

Whenever the matter has been investigated, men and women face normative expectations about the appropriate mode of speech.